Process of and articles for producing moving pictures.



J. R. BRAY. PROCESS OF AND ARTICLES FOR PRODUCING MOVING PICTURES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9 1914.

Patented Aug. 11, 1914,

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

My W v 7/ Fig.5

INVENTOR ATTORNEY J. R. BRAY. PROCESS OF AND ARTICLES FOR PRODUGING MOVING PICTURES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.9,1914. v Patented Aug. 11, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES. QM b ATTORNEY J. R. BRAY.

PROCESS OF AND ARTICLES FOR PRODUCING MOVING PICTURES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1914.

1,107,193. Patented Aug. 11, 1911 3 SHEBTS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES: I l/VI/ENTOR ATTORNEY JOHN RANDOLPH BRAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y..

PROCESS OF AND ARTICLES FOR PRODUCING MOVING PICTURES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 9, 1914.

Patented Aug. 11, 1914. Serial No. 811,165.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN RANDOLPH BRAY, a citizen of the United States and resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invent-ed certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of and Articles for Producing Moving Pictures, of which the following is a specification.

' By means of my invention I am able to produce on a commercially practical scale a kind of moving picture: which may be designated as animated cartoons to distinguish them from the ordinary moving pictures. In the usual method, the object photographed is in motion and the exposures are made on the film or other sensitized surface with such rapidity that each successive picture shows the object in a slightly advanced position from that which it occupied in the last preceding picture. As a part of my improved process I do not photograph an object in motion but photograph in succession a series of pictures or drawings which show the object, the successive pictures illustrating the successive positions which the object would take if it were in motion. By rapidly projecting on a screen the photographs of these drawings, the persons, animals, or other objects appear to move in the same manner as they do in the ordinary movin pictures. These animated cartoons differ 01m the ordinary moving pictures, in that as the drawings may be madefrom imagination rather than from life, the persons, animals, inanimate objects or the like, may be represented as performing acts and assuming positions and expressions which would be impossible in reality and which may be made extremely amusing and entertaining.

The main portion of my invention re-f sides in the steps which I have invented to facilitate the rapid and inexpensive production of a large number of pictures of a series, all of the pictures for one scene show.- ing'the same setting or background 1D. whole or in part and successive plctu-res showing the same movable object in slightly different The difpositions in successive pictures.

ferences in the position of the object as shown on successive drawings must be-comparatlvely slight and be of the proper character, so that when the pictures are photographed in succession with a movng picture camera, and the resulting film is used in a projector, the object appearing in the picture on the screen will seem to move important features of my invention are involved in the producing of the drawings and in makin the film therefrom but some of these may iie modified in certain particulars and various changes will readily suggest themselves in regard to the details of the successive steps and which will not depart from the spirit of my invention. I will now describe one way in which my improved process may be carried out.

After deciding upon the desired scene, room, grouping of stationary objects, or other setting which the artist desires to have as the background of the picture, he makes a drawing of said background on any suitable sheet material. He then reproduces by some printing process, a large number of copies of said background on thin translucent material, andpreferably on a material commonly known as tracing paper. By the term translucent, I mean to include any and all sheet material which under the actual conditions of use will permit lines, marks, or representations of objects on one sheet to be seen through the superposed sheet sufiiciently, clearly for the purpose set forth. Although other processes might be employed I find that by making an ordinary zinc etching of the original drawing the desired copies may be producedeconomically and of a character well suited to the work to be done-on them. On the original sheet with the drawings was. placed a guide.

line or certain guide marks which are reproduced on all of the copies, butoutside of the limits of the picture proper.v The function and character of these guide marks will be more fully set'forth hereinafter.

After obtaining by a printing process the desired number of copies, on tracing paper, of the background which is to constitute a black and the moving objects would be v portion of the complete picture, the artist moving or in any way changing position or appearance. By the term setting or background ,'I desire to include not only the street, building, walls, trees and the like which would ordinarily appear stationary in moving pictures, but I also desire to include movable objects or parts of objects which for a considerable portion of the time period of the picture do not change their ap pearance or position. Thus if a man or an animal is to occupy a position in the foreground of the picture and remain stationary during the entire or a considerable portion of the time'interval of the picture it may be considered as a part of the setting or background as I have used such terms in this application.

Ordinarily in carrying out my improved process the background would be printed in drawn also with black ink or paint, as col: ors on the drawing would not be reproduced in the film but variation in the tone of the picture might be secured not only by using inks of'difi'erent shade but also by using different colored inks.

v If desired the movable objects may be.

shown in solid black in which case they may be drawn in on the tracing paper directly over parts of the-background if the latter be in outline, and no erasure of the background will be necessary. If portions of the background be insolid and the movable object be also shown in solid black, the position of the object in front of the solid black portion of the background may be clearly indicated by erasing or otherwise removing the ink along narrow lines to bring out merely the outline of the -movable object. The same may be done in indicating the position of one portion of a movable object in front of another, for instance if the movable object be a man and he be represented swinging his arm across in front of his own v body, the outline of the arm in its different positions may be shown by .narrow white lines across the body. By showing the moving objects in solid black, and the background in outline a great deal of time and labor is saved in the production of the drawings as practically no erasures will have to be made.

The use of tracing paper or other transparent sheet material, upon which to make the drawings is of great importance in the carrying out of my invention. After one drawing with its printed background and printed guide line has been made and the object has'been drawn thereon in the initial position, a second sheet with its printed background and guide line may be superposed upon the first and due -to the transparency of the material the guide lines may be brought into registry. This will insure the proper registry of the entire background. The artist inay 'now proceed to draw the object in the second position on the second sheet. As he can see it in its initial position through the second sheet, he canvery easily and accurately secure the proper proportions and appearance to the object on the second sheet and can also secure the exact desired difference in posltlon. In some cases it may be desired to represent only a portion of the object as moving, as for instance,a man swinging his arm or turning his head in which case the man may be accurately traced except the arm or head, as the casemay be, and the latter may be drawn in so as to get a natural and realistic movement. The artist ma only sketch in in pencil the portions whic actually change position or expression in successive pictures while the portions which do not move through a series of several pictures may be traced by assistants or copyists. The use of transparent material thus not' only facilitates the securing of perfect registry but also insures the maintenance of the proper proportions, the change of the desired extent between suc essive pictures and the imparting of realistic and natural movements. The use of thin tracing paper has the further advantage in that it is very flexible and the artist by holding the sheets representingan object in successive positions, firmly together along one edge and rapidly turning or moving the sheets may gain a fair idea as to how the picture will appear on the screen and can therefore determine whether or not the movement of the object. will appear smooth and natural or whether it will be awkward or jerky.

I have found by experience that most inks are unsuitable for use on tracing paper 'or wrinkled and the wrinkles or irregularities may show on the screen after the drawings have been photographed. I have discovered that drawings in solid black or in wash shading may be made on the thinnest tracing paper by the use of an ink having turpentine as the carrier of the pigment and the use of such ink with such thin tracing paper for representation of objects in solid color is an important feature of my invention.

A further important feature of my invention involves certain steps which I have invented whereby I may show any of the moving objects in outline or light wash shading without necessitating the erasing of portions of the background. Briefly this involves the printing of different groups of the sheets showing the background but with different portions of the background blocked out or left blank in the different groups.

In many scenes the background or setting may be such that it is desired to draw the objects in outline in front of portions of the background in solid color or outline and in such cases I not only print a number of copies of the complete background, but also print a number of groups of copies, each group having a portion of the background blocked out or left blank I may do this by covering a portion of the printing plate with a thin piece of paper during the printing operation so that this portion of the plate will not print on the sheet of tracing paper upon which the balance of the background is being printed. I may keep one portion of the background covered up while printing a group of several hundred copies and may then cover an additional portion of the background or cover up another portion and uncover the portion first referred to. If an object is to remain stationary during a portion of the scene and then move I may include the object as a part of the background and after printing a largenumber of copies I may cover up this object and print a second group with the object blocked out. Also if during a portion of the action it is desired that only a portion of the object move this portion may be blocked out on certain of the copies. By blocking out these portions of the background or portions of an object forming a part of the background, the artist may draw by hand in the blank spaces an object in different positions on different sheets without necessitating the erasing of background. After the object has been sketched in in its proper position, the remaining portion of the background adjacent to the object may be filled in up to the object by tracing directly from a sheet showing the complete background. In this way I am ableto reduce to a minimum the amount of work actually required in producing a great number of pictures making up a series, no two pictures being exactly the same and the difference between successive pictures being only in regard to the size, position, expression. (1 appearance of some object or objects.

After the series of pictures has been completed I proceed to photograph them successiyely by means of an ordinary moving picture camera, although preferably I modify the camera by introducing such speed reducing gearing that for each film advancement and exposure, there will be'a comparatively large crank movement. For instance the gearing may be such that a complete rotation of the crank is necessary for each picture taking operation.

The pictures are placed one at a time, on a suitable support, properly positioned in respect to the camera, andone or more exposures made for each picture. The guide lines or guide marks above referred to play an important part in connection with the photographing operation as does also the fact that the pictures are drawn on transparent material. The support is provided with guide lines or marks corresponding to those of the picture and as eaclrsheet is placed on the support the lines or marks on the latter are visible through the paper so that the sheet may be easily adjusted until its guide lines or marks are in perfect registry with those on the support. This positively insures the steadiness of the picture when the film is employed in a projection apparatus and the picture is thrown on a screen.

An important feature of my invention involves the method employed for controlling the speed of action in thepicture. \Vith the ordinary moving pictures the speed of action is controlled primarily by the rapidity of movement of the object photographed,

although the rapidity at which the exposures are made in the camera and the rapidity with which successive pictures are thrown on the screen may be varied. In my improved process I control the rapidity of action in the picture primarily by varying the number of exposures for different pictures, for instance if the scene requires an object to move first rapidly then slowly, and then stop for an instant, the pictures representing the object during the first portion of its course might be given only a single exposure or only a very few exposures. To represent the object as moving more slowly each picture would be given a larger number of exposures and to represent the object as coming to a deadvstop a still larger number of exposures would be given dependent upon the time which it is desired to represent the object as remaining at rest. If the pictures are projected on the screen at the rate of sixteen a second, and it is desired to represent an object as remaining at rest for two seconds the picture showing the object in that position would be given thirty-two exposures.

Merely as an example of a series of pietures which may be made and of certain of the different steps in the process, I have shown certain pictures in the accompanying drawings to which reference is to be had.

In these drawings: Figure 1 shows a sheet as printed with the complete background including an object which at one stage of the scene it is desired to have move; Fig. 2 shows a second sheet forming one of a group, printed from the same plate, but with one portion blocked out; Fig. 3shows the sheet printed asin Fig. 2 but with an object and the adjacent portion of the background filled in by hand; Fig. 4 shows a third sheet forming one of another group, printed from the same plate as Figs. 1 and 2, but with'a different portion of the background blocked out; Fig. 5 shows a-sheet printed as in Fig. 4 but with an object and the adjacent portion of the background filled in by hand; Fig. 6 shows a sheet forming one of another group, printed from the same plate as Fig. 1, but with a portion of an object in the foreground blocked out; Fig. 7 shows a sheet printed as in Fig- 6 but with a portion of the object drawn in by hand in a difierent position; Fig. 8 shows a sheet forming one of another group, printed from the same plateas Fig. 1, but with an object in the foreground entirely blocked out; and Fig. 9 shows a sheet printed as in Fig. 8 but with the object filled in by hand in a difi'erent position.

The particular scene shown inthe drawing of course forms no portion of my invention as such scene may be varied to any eX- tent within the scope of the artists imagination.

111 Fig. 1, l[ have shown a setting which might be employed to depict a scene in which a man while guarding the entrance to a cave goes to sleep and while asleep an animal emerges from the cave and wakes up the man, who then while lying on the ground, turns and twists his head to watch the animal. The plot may be elaborated'to represent the animal going through various mo tions and antics which may be made very amusing. The original drawing from which the Zinc etching would be made would show the cave, the trees in the distance, and the man asleep near'the'cave. From this plate a large number of copies 10 would be printed as shown in Fig. 1, each copy being printed on thin transparent paper, and each with the guide line 11 closely adjacent the upper edge thereof. It will be noted that the guide line at one end has an upturned end 12, so that the lines may be brought into proper registry in two directions. Any other suitable form of guidelines or guide marks may be employed in place of the guide lines 11 and 12. In some series of pictures a portion of the background may be used as the guide line, or guide mark, but preferably separate lines or marks are employed as indicated in the drawings, and these are positioned closely adjacent to the edge of the paper, so that when the picture is photographed, the

memes guidelines or marks will be outside of the that the artist could show the animal in proper position in respect to the entrance.

In Fi 3 l have shown a sheet 13 formb mg one of such a series otplctures in which the artisthas shown the animal and has drawn in theportion of the cave entrance not concealed by said animal. This completing of the cave entrance or background would be done by tracing directly from a copy in which the cave entrance is shown complete. As it is desired to represent the animal as moving alonga third set of copies could be printed from the same orlginal plate but with'both the cave entrance and the trees blocked out and a fourth set 14:-

with the trees blocked out as shown in Fig. 4. Upon these pictures the animal would be drawn, in its successive positions as it walks along and in each the background would be filled in.

It is desired to block out the least possi ble amount of background for each picture as the portions of the background not concealed by the animal must be filled in by hand. At the same time the printing operation is simplified bymaking as few such groups as possible. The number of groups ofpictures with different portions blocked out and the size of the blocked out portion will of course Vary widely and in accordance with the scene depicted.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a sheet 143* forming one of the sheets 14 printed as in Fig. 4: and after the artist has completed his work thereon.

Assuming that the action required the man which has been shown asleep in the foreground in the first of the series of pictures to now'awaken, and first only move his head, a series of sheets 15 would be printed with the head of the man blocked out as shown in Fig. 6. On each of the sheets in this series the artist would draw in the head in different positions to represent the man as raising his head and turning it around to watch theanimal which emerged from Fig. 8 with the man entirely blocked out.

On each of these the artist would draw the man in the desired position. x

In Fig. 9 I have shown a sheet 16 after completion and made from a sheet 16.

Of course when only a very slight amount of the background comes behind the object,

it i often easier to make the necessary era-v sure than it is to have a separate group of sheets printed with that portion of the background blocked out. For instance in Fig. 9 it will be noted that a portion of the skyline is concealed by the animal, and before drawing the animal on sheet similar to that shown in Fig. 8, a portion ofthe skyline had to be erased, but this involved the erasure of only a single short line.

In some scenes the movable object maybe one that does not change its, appearance, but only its position and in such cases, I may avoid the necessity of making a large series of separate pictures by cutting out a dummy to represent the movable'object and by photographing the sheets with this dummy in a series of separate successive positions the desired effect may be obtained. This also has the advantage in that it may be done .without any erasure of background as the dummy which would be cut out of thin nontranslucent paper and shaded, outlined or made solid black, would conceal the background. beneath the dummy.

Having thus described my invention,'what I claim a new and desire to protect by Letters-Patent, is: Y

1. The process of producing moving pictures which includes the producing on sep arate sheets of translucent material a series of pictures, showing the same movable object in successive positions, and photographing said pictures in succession on a kinematograph film, the proper position for the object in each picture being secured by superposing the sheet upon which the object is to be shown upon the sheet showing the object in the last successive position and with guide marks in registry, whereby the object shown on the second-mentioned sheet is visible through the first-mentioned sheet.

2. The process of producing moving pictures which includes the printing on a series of separate sheets the same background or grouping of stationary objects, different successive groups of sheets having different portions of said background or grouping omitted, and completing the picture on each of said sheets by producing in the blank space a representation of a movable object and the background adjacent thereto, by superposing each sheet upon the preceding one and tracing in the portions of the background not concealed by said moving object.

3. The process of making moving pictures which includes the printing of a guide line or guide mark on a plurality of separate sheets of transparent material, drawing on one of said sheetsa movable object, super-posing a second sheet thereonv with the guide lines or marks in registry with those of the first sheet and drawing on said second sheet the same object as appears on the first shcetbut in a slightly altered position.

4. The process of producing moving pictures which includes the producing on separate sheets. of translucent material a series of pictures showing the same movable object in successive positions, the proper position for the object in each picture being secured by superposing the sheet upon which the object is to be shown, upon the sheet showing the object in the last successive position, and photographing said pictures in succession on a kinematograph film.

5. The process of producing moving pictures which includes the printing of a background showing stationary objects on a large number of separate translucent sheets, the producing of the representation of a movable object on one of said sheets, superposing on said last mentioned sheet a second sheet with the background in registry with the background on the first mentioned sheet andproduc'ing on said second sheet the representation of the same movable object but in a slightly different position and repeating the last two steps to securea series of sheets, all showing the same movable object and in diiierent positions on successive sheets.

6. The process of producing moving pictures which includes the printing on a'series of separate translucent sheets the same background or grouping of stationary objects, printing on a second series of separate translucentsheets the same background or grouping of stationary objects with a portion omitted, producing upon sheets of both of said series the representation of a movable object successive sheets showing the same objects in different positions and completing the background of the sheets of the second series by superposing each sheet upon one showing the complete background, and

tracing in portions omitted.

7 The process of producing moving p ctures which includes the printlng on a series of translucent sheets the representation of a portion of an object and completing the representation of the object on each'sheet by superposing the sheet upon a sheet showing the complete object and drawing on the superposed sheet the remainder of the ob ect in a slightly different position than that shown on the underlying sheets. v

8. The process of making moving piciii position for the object on each sheet being secured by superposing the sheet upon a previouslycompleted sheet with the scene or setting registeringwith that of said preceding sheet.

9. The process of making moving pictures which includes the producing of a series of pictures on translucent material, said pictures each having a guide mark or guide line thereon and successive pictures showing the same object in difterent positions, providing a picture support having a guide mark or guide line thereon corresponding with that on the pictures, placing said pictures separately and in succession on said support with the guide mark or line or the former in registry with that out the latter and photographing said pictures on a kinematograph film when on said support.

10. The process of producing moving pictures which includes the printing on a series of separate sheets the same background or grouping of stationary objects with a por tion of said background or grouping omitted,

and completing the picture on each of said sheets by producing in the blank space a representation of a movable object and the background adjacent thereto, the successive pictures showing said movable object'in successive positions.

11. The process of making moving pictures which includes the printing of a scene or setting made up of stationary objects, on

4 a plurality of separate sheets, and drawing or painting the same movable object on each sheet, the movable object on successive sheets being represented in the successive positions which it would occupy in moving from one point in the scene or setting to a point at a distance therefrom the drawing or painting being done in solid color.

12. An article of manufacture for use in the production of animated pictures, comprising a sheet having a scene or setting printed thereon and constituting the stationary background of the picture to be produced, the sheet being sufiiciently translucent to permit an object to be seen therethrough, when said sheet is superposed on a second sheet, having the object represented thereon.

13. An article of manufacture for use in the production of animated pictures, comprising a sheet of thin material, having an incompleted picture printed thereon, the sheet being sufliciently translucent to permit the remainder of a complete picture to be seen through the sheet, when said sheet is superposed thereon, with corresponding parts in registry.

Signed at'N-ew York city in the county of New York and State of New York this 7th day of January A. D. 1914.

JOHN RANDULPH EBAY.

Witnesses:

O. W. lEAInnANK, ltnonunon TinvInN. 

